Gloves or mittens utilized for cold weather protection depend on bulk to obtain good thermal comfort. As bulk or thickness is increased, however, the user's ability to detect, for example, vibrations from external stimuli, is diminished. A similar problem exists with respect to work gloves used to protect one's hands and fingers from injury. The relatively thick and tough material often utilized in the construction of work gloves also results in a loss of tactile sensitivity.
This invention seeks to provide a glove system which retains good thermal and protective characteristics, but which nevertheless provides increased tactile sensitivity in the fingertip portions of the glove.
Prior attempts at solving the problem of providing increased sensitivity in relatively thick gloves have not been completely satisfactory. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,807, for example, a work glove is disclosed wherein the tips of one or more fingers of the glove are made of relatively thin, pliable material, without fingertip seams, to increase sensitivity. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,098,237, a thermal glove is disclosed in which increased sensitivity is obtained by the provision of slits disposed in suitable portions of the lining of the glove in such a manner as to selectively permit the passage of the thumb or fingers of a user through these slits and into contact with the interior surface of the outer covering of the glove. While these glove constructions undoubtedly increase tactile sensitivity, they also sacrifice thermal and/or protective characteristics in the process.
In the present invention, a glove and mitt construction is disclosed wherein at least one, and preferably all of the finger and thumb portions of the glove or mitt have structure which increases tactile sensitivity without sacrificing thermal and/or protective characteristics.
In one exemplary embodiment of the invention, the interior tips of the thumb portion and finger portions are provided with individual finger pads, external response surfaces, and transmission systems within the fabric of the glove for transmitting external vibrations received from an external source to the fingertips of the wearer. In the preferred embodiment, a cold weather glove or mitt construction includes an exterior shell, an intermediate insulating layer, and an inner liner. In the interior thumb and fingertip portions of the glove, there are provided discrete finger contact pads constructed of relatively stiff material and located between the inner liner and the insulating layer. These pads may consist of the well known hook and loop fastener material, marketed under the name Velcro.TM., on one side, with a suitable adhesive on the other side. Similar pads of material, forming external response surfaces, may be 0 disposed between the intermediate insulating layer and the outer shell in areas directly beneath the finger contact pads provided in the interior of the glove. Sandwiched between each of the finger contact pads and the exterior response surface pads, is a relatively stiff transmission system which serves to transmit vibrations from external sources to the fingertips of the wearer. The transmission system may take on a variety of configurations, so long as the material used therein is stiffer than the intermediate insulating layer. For most applications, it is advantageous to remove a cylindrical plug of insulation material between each of the finger contact pads and the external response surface pads to form, for example, a cylindrical cavity for receiving the material which comprises the transmission system.
In one embodiment, the transmission system comprises stiff plastic prongs embedded in a previously removed plug of insulating material which is reinserted into the same or a similar cavity between the finger contact pads and the external response surface pads. In another embodiment, the transmission system comprises a solid polystyrene plug. In a third embodiment, the transmission system comprises a plurality of polystyrene pellets embedded within a plug of insulating material. In a fourth embodiment, the transmission system comprises one or more of the hook and loop fastening type pads similar to those used as the finger pads and as the external response surface pads. And in a fifth embodiment, the transmission material is a stiff, open cell foam material shaped so as to fit within the cavity formed in the insulating layer.
The combination of relatively stiff materials used for each of the finger pads, transmission systems, and external response surface pads, permits the retention of the bulk necessary for providing good thermal and/or protective characteristics while, at the same time, imparts to the glove a desirable increase in tactile sensitivity.